Role Models / Quantum of Solace

A couple movie reviews today. First up, Paul Rudd's brilliant, hilarious and surprisingly heart-warming Role Models.

Role Models is a story centered around two guys who haven't really lived up to their potential; Rudd as the man with promise whose life has become stagnant and Seann William Scott playing his usually Stiffler self, only in this movie they call him 'Wheeler' and he wears the mascot outfit for Minotaur Energy Drink. Both are hilarious in their own way and play off of each other unexpectedly well. The movie also features McLovin' (Christopher Mintz-Plasse) as the dorky, seemingly weird, friendless high school kid, Augie Farks, as well as Bobb'e J. Thompson as Ronnie, an 8 year old with a foul mouth and a precocious love for 'boobies'. Here's a good paragraph describing the plot, "Danny (Rudd) and Wheeler (Scott) are two salesmen who trash a company truck on an energy drink-fueled bender. Upon their arrest, the court gives them a choice: do hard time or spend 150 hours with a mentorship program. After one day with the kids, however, jail doesn't look half bad. Once the center's ex-con director (Jane Lynch) gives them an ultimatum, Danny and Wheeler are forced to tailor their brand of immature wisdom to their charges, Augie (Christopher Mintz-Plasse) and Ronnie (Bobb'e J. Thompson)."

Role Models, despite Rudd and Scott playing the exact same role they've played in every movie they've ever been in, despite Augie Farks simply being a 16th Century McLovin', despite Jane Lynch (the electronics store manager from 40 Year Old Virgin) playing the same character we saw semi-molest Steve Carrell, despite all that, the movie was hilarious and everyone with a sense of humor should definitely see it.

Final Verdict: $6.25 out of $7


Next up is the highly-anticipated, long-awaited Quantum of Solace, starring Daniel Craig as Ian Fleming's James Bond. Most all of you I assume saw Craig as Bond in Casino Royale, he was certainly different from Pierce Brosnan's Bond and Casino Royale was much different from the previous set of films starring Brosnan. Widely considered one of the better Bond films of all time, Casino Royale reshaped our thinking and expectations for Bond films going forward. That said, it was certainly going to be difficult for Quantum of Solace to live up to Casino Royale. In the end it did not, but that is not at all a knock on Quantom of Solace and really serves as more proof of how great Casino Royale really was.

Without the unnecessary comparisons between the two films, one can make rational judgments about Quantum of Solace. Judging it on its own merits, I thought it was really, really good. Craig is once again proving the doubters wrong as he's more than pulling off his altered portrayal of Bond (as opposed to Connery or Brosnan's Bond). Olga Kurylenko pulls off a scorned Bolivian revenge seeker (even though she's Ukrainian) quite well and Gemma Arterton didn't have much of a chance (maybe 5 minutes of screen time) to show what she's got but did well in a limited role. The bad guy was more creepy Frenchman I think than true villian, but he served his purpose. Dame Judi Dench was once again fantastic as 'M'.

All in all, as long as you don't unnecessarily compare it to Casino Royale, I think movie goers will realize Quantum of Solace was a really good flick and one of the better Bond films, at least that I've seen (which is not all but most of them). My only complaint is we'll have to wait 2-3 years for the next one...

Final Verdict: $6.75 out of $7


On another note, this excerpt from an ESPN article about President-elect Obama's plan to use his influence to push for an 8-team college football playoff has me more excited than anything else he's said in all his time in the national spotlight.

Also on Sunday, BCS coordinator John Swofford responded to a playoff push by President-elect Barack Obama that was broadcast on CBS's 60 Minutes.

"First of all I want to congratulate newly elected President Obama and I am glad he has a passion for college football like so many other Americans," Swofford said in a statement. "For now, our constituencies -- and I know he understands constituencies -- have settled on the current BCS system, which the majority believe is the best system yet to determine a national champion while also maintaining the college football regular season as the best and most meaningful in sports."

Swofford added: "We certainly respect the opinions of president-elect Obama and welcome dialogue on what's best for college football."

Obama said he will use his influence to create such a system.

"If you've got a bunch of teams who play throughout the season, and many of them have one loss or two losses, there's no clear decisive winner. We should be creating a playoff system," he told reporter Steve Kroft.

According to Obama's proposed system, eight teams would play over three rounds to settle the national champion.

"It would add three extra weeks to the season," he said at the conclusion of a wide-ranging interview. "You could trim back on the regular season. I don't know any serious fan of college football who has disagreed with me on this. So, I'm going to throw my weight around a little bit. I think it's the right thing to do."